Ukulele adds new tone to prayers, psalms

Father Steve Wolf, pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville, has formed the IC Ukes, a group of parishioners learning to play the ukulele. Len Stolz, above, practices before the start of class. Photos by Andy Telli

Father Steve Wolf has been trying to master a musical instrument for most of his life without success. There was the guitar as a teen, the cello as a seminarian, and the piano as a new priest.

Last fall, he finally found his instrument – the ukulele.

“At 62, I’m amazed I can learn something like this at this age,” said Father Wolf, the pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Clarksville. “It has opened up something in my soul. I don’t know what yet. I feel more alive.”

And with the zeal of a convert, Father Wolf has become an evangelist of the ukulele. He has organized a class to teach some of his parishioners how to play the ukulele and has published a collection of ukulele arrangements for hymns and prayers.

The book’s title is “Father Steve’s Three-Finger-Chord Ukulele Hymns.” It includes 145 hymns in 93 traditional melodies, all of which can be played using only three-finger chords.

Father Steve Wolf, left, leads a recent ukulele lesson at Immaculate Conception Church. He wrote “Father Steve’s Three-Finger-Chord Ukulele Hymns” to help beginner players quickly learn to play whole songs.

The book is “for a beginner, by a beginner,” Father Wolf said.

“These songs are what I use in prayer,” Father Wolf said. “I’ve been using them for decades.”

Some of the songs he found in hymnals, he said. “Others I just had to figure them out,” putting prayers and psalms to music, Father Wolf said.

Now, as he prays, he strums along on the ukulele as he sings. “It adds something,” Father Wolf said. “It does for me.”

Music is a bit of a family tradition for Father Wolf.

“Our dad always felt everyone should know how to play an instrument,” Father Wolf said. Although his father never mastered an instrument himself, “he was always singing.”

Of the eight sons in the Wolf family, four learned to play guitar and other instruments. Two of his brothers, Danny and Greg, played, or still play, in bands.

“I tried to play the guitar, but I just couldn’t make it happen,” Father Wolf said.

“My brothers were no help,” Father Wolf said with a laugh. “They kept saying, ‘Keep playing you’ll figure it out.’”

They did teach him about three-four and four-four time and three basic chords, C, G and F.

For Christmas in 2016, Father Wolf gave himself a ukulele, but he didn’t start trying to learn how to play it until last October.

“The first song I was playing was ‘Away in the Manger,’” Father Wolf said. He figured out the chords by watching videos on YouTube.

He soon got hooked and has been playing every day since. “Over a few months, I figured out the chords,” Father Wolf said. “I’m amazed you can do so much with just a few chords.”

The instructional books and videos he was using to learn how to play “didn’t get you into playing a song fast enough,” Father Wolf said. “So I did my own.”

Last spring, he started talking to his parishioners about forming a new group of ukulele players.

“I was inviting people to think about it,” Father Wolf said. He brought out his ukulele at the end of Mass and started playing and singing “Amazing Grace.” The congregation joined in to sing along with him.

He made his pitch for the group, the IC Ukes.

One of his students, Maria Shircel, right, practices a song with the group.

“My hope is that this group of people, when they feel comfortable, they can go around places and play a few songs,” Father Wolf said.

The first meeting of the group last May drew 32 people. Over the summer, the group has dwindled to about 10 people who show up for lessons led by Father Wolf.

At one recent lesson, Father Wolf led the group through different strumming patterns and picking patterns as they worked on songs including “This Land Is Your Land,” “O Breathe on Me O Breath of God,” and “Let Glory Be to God on High,” the lyrics of which are a translation of the “Gloria” from the Liturgy of St. James put to the tune of “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.”

As he went through the songs, Father Wolf explained the religious imagery in the lyrics.

Bishop Robert Barron, one of Father Wolf’s teachers in the seminary, told his students, “If it’s real art, it will always have in it some of the story of redemption,” Father Wolf said. “We’ll sometimes see Jesus in this if it’s real art.”

Maria Shircel, one of the IC Ukes, praised Father Wolf’s talent as a teacher. “He shows us step by step,” she said. “Everything seems to make sense.”

While all are newcomers to the ukulele, some of the IC Ukes already knew how to play other instruments.

Ray Carroll plays guitar and bass for Mass at Immaculate Conception. “This is a fun instrument to learn, to play, for a guitar player,” he said. “I had to relearn the chords and the finger picking is different.”

Father Wolf is planning for the IC Ukes to play at the parish’s annual International Festival on Sept. 16. Len Stolz, who also plays the banjo and harmonica, reassured some of his fellow IC Ukes about playing in public. “Playing in a group this size, if somebody messes up, no one will know,” he said.

Father Wolf has more plans for public performances in the future. Clarksville’s annual Veterans Day and Christmas parades pass by Immaculate Conception Church, which is a popular place for people to set up to watch.

He hopes the IC Ukes will be able to play a few songs for the crowd as they wait for the parade, Father Wolf said. “It’s an evangelization opportunity.”